- Jeff is the ideal work colleague – he takes initiative, thinks deeply about what he does, and produces quality work on time (usually ahead of time!) Jeff has quickly built strong and mutually supportive relationships with all our faculty and staff. Jeff has boundless energy, a good sense of humor, and thus commands, and has clearly earned, the respect of all of us. Federal Executive Institute director and supervisor
- I want you to know that I have been and continue to be blessed and affirmed by getting to work with you. You are an amazingly gifted leader and colleague. I can feel the impact of your work around campus. I am truly grateful for all of the gifts you have shared with me – your constant desire to learn and grow has been such a model for me ever since I have known you. Baylor assistant vice president
- I first met Jeff when I was serving as a Dean and we both served on the Texas Deans of Students Council. Jeff was a leader in that group, and I learned a tremendous amount from him. He was easily one of the most respected Deans in the State of Texas. But while his skill set is impressive, it’s his commitment to students that sets him even further apart. He would be a tremendous asset to any institution fortunate enough to hire him. Vice President
- You are a man seeking to be a great leader – and you should know – that we know – you are doing this well. I know this not only through observation but through conversations with others. You stand tall and brave, sincere and empathetic, with conviction and purpose. Nobility comes to mind. Thank you for walking well – humble, willing to be corrected/convicted and courageously. You are quite practiced at be committed to speaking the truth in love. This, my friend, is rare indeed. Baylor faculty
- When I first met Jeff Doyle many years ago, and continuing to this day, I was impressed by his dynamic, energetic, and tireless personality; by his servant-leadership approach to every task; and by his commitment and devotion to his faith. Later, I had several opportunities to watch him interact with his children at the Waco Family YMCA pool, and I was immediately impressed by his caring, encouraging, and devoted parenting. I am very blessed to know him. Baylor faculty
- Jeff is one of the finest higher education professionals I have ever met. Not only is he organized and efficient, but he is very creative; though I come from a different profession and perspective, I was always struck by how much I agreed with his programmatic ideas–always innovative and always student-centered. I was also struck by Jeff’s essential decency, his commitment to compassion and to people. Appalachian State faculty
- The thing I loved most about working with Jeff was that he did everything with intention. His practice was backed by theory. There wasn’t a night that would go by where he wouldn’t be reading something to inform his practice. He encouraged his staff’s professional development…it was an expectation to learn and grow. Jeff’s leadership was deeply rooted in vision and values. Being on his team was one of the most fulfilling times in my career. Baylor Direct Report
- To you I attribute so many learning opportunities under your leadership the past three years. You challenged and coached me; you supported and mentored me amidst your busy schedule and multifaceted responsibilities. This means a lot to me. Thank you for trusting me, asking me to take on diverse projects with which I stumbled. You modeled being a practitioner-scholar while keeping your faith and family prioritized. Baylor Direct Report
- Jeff can always explain why a decision is made. I feel comfortable telling him anything, good or bad! If Jeff says he will do something, he does it. I have never seen him stressed and am not sure how he does it. He is always available to help and supportive, even if I know he does not always agree. Jeff is always checking in on how I am doing and offering suggestions on how I can grow professionally. Overall, Jeff is open, compassionate, understanding, and leads by example. He knows that we have lives outside of work. Shenandoah Direct Report
- I just returned from a conference on leadership. Over the 5 days of the institute, I realized something. Everything you did with me when I worked for you, what you did for our department and the university, were exactly the type of leadership and management we needed. You were RIGHT on target with how a supervisor should engage with their staff. I want to say THANK YOU for providing that leadership to me. You are one of the few leaders that I can say taught me the BEST and you are on my LIST of great supervisors and leaders. I hope you continue to provide the same experience, care, teaching, and mentorship that you provided to me. Appalachian Direct Report
- You have had a major impact on me as a professional. You are able to multi-task and accomplish more in a given day that most people. Your character is evident in your high ethics and decision-making ability. You are destined for greatness and you will move forward any university with outstanding vision & leadership. Appalachian Direct Report
- I have truly enjoyed working under your leadership and I value your intentionality showing you cared about our department. I was amazed that you knew my top 5 strengths and how you always seem to ask the right questions. Thank you for selecting me to serve in my role. I am grateful for the ways in which you have challenged me to grow professionally. It has been an honor to work beside you. Thanks for your selfless service to Baylor and your commitment to students. You are such an inspiration to young professionals, me included. You will always have my support. Baylor Indirect Report
- Thank you so much for all of your guidance and being such a great role model this year. I learned so much from getting to work with you and I can already tell I will be a better professional because of our interactions. I remember talking to you late in the night before College Gameday and then watching you walk around and pass out pizzas to students. By seeing that, I learned that I have to be passionate about the students and their success is your motivation. One day, I hope that I am able to pour into as many students and empower them, just as I have seen you do countless times this year. Baylor Student Government President
- You have to be the most humble and down to earth person I’ve ever met. Thank you for having these qualities. Words cannot express how much we appreciate the support you have shown us. I can’t express enough gratitude to you for giving me the opportunity to come to Appalachian. Your decision to hire me is the main reason I went to graduate school. Thank you for always supporting and trusting me. You are a great person, a fantastic leader, and an extraordinary role model!!! Graduate student staff members at Appalachian State
- I wasn’t always the grown up I wish I could have been in grad school. My small school experience made me think I had all the answers, and I see now, that I often pushed them too hard and couldn’t always see the forest for the tree in front of me. Recently, I interviewed to be an academic dean, and in my interview I heard Jeff Doyle words come out of my mouth. I really value the way you taught us about how to connect our work to mission, vision and values. I’m sorry for often being a petulant pain in the bum. I promise I was listening and learned lots about buy in when I was working for you. Graduate student staff member at Appalachian State
- To the Dean of the Business School at Baylor, I am a 1986 graduate of Baylor and my daughter is currently a student there. Our friend, a dentist here in Little Rock met us recently to tell us about the email Dr. Doyle sent him. He said, “Never in all my years of schooling did I have a professor that would take the time to say, ‘thank you’ for helping a student with something. The conversation went on for 10-12 minutes with him basically being blown away that Dr. Doyle took the time to send him a thank you email for him serving as a mentor to our daughter. I thank Dr. Doyle for teaching life lessons of kindness and manners. We are thankful for him pouring into the lives of his students with examples of how we treat each other in the real world. Parent of student
- I doubt that you remember me but in 2017 I applied for a position in one of your departments at Baylor. I did not get invited to an interview, but you wrote me a very kind personal email thanking me for my application and encouraging me to apply for other positions at Baylor. Thank you for your encouragement years ago. Your kind words and willingness to send me a personalize note instead of the standard reply was a deep encouragement to me during my job search. Out of all the schools that I applied to, including schools where I had an on-campus interview, none of them took the time to write a personal note like you did. Thank you. Job applicant
- I have been reading your blog for quite some time now and I LOVE it! I would love, love, love the opportunity to sit down and chat with you if you were willing. I live in Austin and I drive through Waco often. Would you be willing to sit down for coffee or lunch? I’m not selling anything, I would just love to hear more on your perspective and share ideas. Someone who found my blog
- I am so glad we were able to connect. Your wisdom and kindness is simply outstanding, especially for us candidates that may not even see the very best in ourselves. I am grateful for your coaching and will keep you posted. Candidate for a role at Baylor, from another college, whom I was trying to help find the best job for them.
- You are a man I deeply admire. I am not just saying that. The times I have spent with you playing basketball, visiting your office, and having coffee, I always walk away encouraged and inspired. You ask great questions, you make people feel valued, and you have significant life experience to be shared. I see that you have so much to give to others, because you have given to me in those times. I believe in you. Former TA, now serving in Afghanistan/Turkmenistan
- Written to my twin sons on their 18th birthday by a colleague at Baylor – If you are looking for a role model, I can do no better than to point you to your own father, Jeff Doyle. It is people like your dad, that make us all become better and understand how to engage with life. I have known few men that are as strong in character and deed as your dad. I have seen him face adversity, wrestle with difficulty and times that did not work out well – and still push forward to care first about the people around him and what their needs are. I have seen his compassion for people and intense driving effort to make himself and the people around him better. I have seen his heart, and know how much he loves and cares for his family. Indeed, he has extended this heart to my family as well. I have seen how his faith helps him extend grace to the humanness around us. He understands that we all struggle, we all fall short, and we are all broken – and it is in spite of these difficulties that a man of character rises and shoulders the load. It may be hard to think about your dad in this way, but over time you will come to understand it, and he will be patiently there to guide you when you need him. Even in asking others to write this letter, he is pouring into your lives. Father of my sons’ friend whom I asked to join other men in writing letters of wisdom to my sons on their 18th birthday
- Dr. Doyle was the most influential professor I had at Baylor. Going to his class was always the highlight of my week and every class I was completing engaged from start to finish. Everything he taught me inside the classroom has led me to be the leader I am today at Baylor and prepared me to lead others in my life after Baylor. Dr. Doyle made our class feel like a family and he went out of his way to support every single student in more ways than one. As a student, I know Dr. Doyle cares about me and wants to see me grow academically, professionally, spiritually, and personally. This impacted my time at Baylor in such a positive way and my academic career here would not have been the same without his class. Former student
- I just wanted to let you know how impactful MGT 3305 and Dr. Doyle have been to my college experience. Dr. Doyle has been the only professor of mine who has truly prioritized group collaboration and current affairs into developing leadership skills. Over the course of the semester, we had talked about racial bias, leadership development, gender roles/stereotypes, and so many more useful conversations. In this class, I was also able and encouraged to become more confident in myself and my capabilities through class engagement. I know there are a lot of impactful courses at Baylor, but I cannot stress enough how big of a difference this class and Dr. Doyle made in my life. Former Student
- This summer as I was doing my internship, the company I was working for had an educational requirement. As I made my way through different courses, I noticed how similar they were to the content that I had learned in Dr. Doyle’s class. His style of teaching and the content he teaches is applicable in so many areas beyond the class. It is by far the class that I have been able to take the most out of and apply in other areas of my life. It has also taught me more about myself and has helped guide me throughout my time at Baylor. I truly believe that more students should have the opportunity to take Dr. Doyle’s class. His class is by far the class that I recommend the most to my peers and I wish every student in the business school had the opportunity take. More than the class itself, Dr. Doyle is someone who truly wants to see students succeed. If you take anything from this email, I just want to share how this class has impacted me and I am sure there are many students like me who feel the same. If you would like to meet sometime so I can share more about my experience I would love to! Former Student
- I enjoyed Dr. Doyle’s class because he made us get uncomfortable. He taught us how to present in front of an audience. He taught us that being vulnerable is normal and allows relationships to grow. Dr. Doyle is an amazing teacher who was so relatable. He never acted like he was better than us and I really respect that. Dr. Doyle is the bomb!!! He is a very intentional instructor; passionate for providing a meaningful class for his students. Dr. Doyle is like Chuck Norris, but 100X better. He is so wonderful, caring, and awesome! He remembered details about every student in the class and offered great advice. Former student
Deep Thoughts on Higher Ed 